Briar Cliffs road losing streak in mens basketball has reached six after an 81-71 loss to Doane on Saturday in Crete, Neb.
The win was the first in league play for the Tigers, who now sit at 1-9 in GPAC play and 5-14 overall.
Turnovers doomed the Blue and Gold throughout as the Chargers lost the ball on 16 possessions resulting in 28 Doane points. Meanwhile, nine Tiger turnovers turned into just five points for the Cliff.
Anthony Laravie had a huge day for the home squad as he recorded a double-double while reaching 1,000 points in his career. Laravie scored 19 points while hauling in 10 rebounds. He also led all players in assists with six and swiped two steals.
Jackson Lamb stood out for Briar Cliff with 17 points and five rebounds. Ethan Freidel made his way back onto the court after missing nine contests and chipped in 12 points in 19 minutes of action. Austin Roetman rounded out the double-digit scorers for BC with 13 points.
Nick Hoyt added nine for the Blue and Gold while Jaden Kleinhesselink was held scoreless but still was a factor with team-highs in rebounds (7) and assists (4).
The Chargers struggled offensively in the second half. After hitting 6-of-8 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, the team finished 11-for-28 for the game for 39%. The nations best free throw shooting team even had issues from the line, hitting 10-of-16 for 63%. The Cliff shot 43% from the field overall.
Doane was 46% from the field, 39% from 3-point range and 61% from the line. The Tigers outrebounded BC 42-38 with an 11-7 edge on offensive boards. The second chance opportunities resulted in a 12-4 lead on second-chance points for the home team. Doane also had the advantage inside with a 34-28 lead on points in the paint.
The loss dropped Briar Cliff to 11-8 on the year and 2-7 in conference play. The Chargers round out the first half of the league schedule with a visit to Jamestown, N.D. on Wednesday. The Chargers and Jimmies tip off at 8 p.m.
Briar Cliffs womens basketball team nearly forced twice as many turnovers as field goals allowed in a dominating 71-51 victory against Doane on Saturday in Crete, Neb.
The Tigers came out firing by going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the game to lead 9-5. From that point on, Briar Cliff buckled down as the host team only made two more field goals in the first half. In all, the Chargers held Doane to 16-of-48 from the field with most of the Tigers success coming in the final quarter of the lopsided affair.
The Blue and Gold responded from the early deficit and ended the first 10 minutes of action with a 20-12 lead. Briar Cliff forced 10 turnovers in the first stanza and got a jolt from Alyssa Carley as she outscored the Tigers with 11 points in the opening quarter. The Chargers used the 10 turnovers to have a 13-0 edge on points off of turnovers in the quarter. For the game, Briar Cliff had a 38-18 advantage in the category.
The second period was even more dominant for BC as the Chargers outscored Doane 20-9 to lead 40-21 at halftime. After three quarters of play, Briar Cliff was more than doubling up Doane, 66-32, but a slow fourth quarter for the Cliff made the game look tighter than it was.
“It was a good win by our team,” said Charger head coach Mike Power. “I thought our kids played with a lot of heart for three quarters, relaxed a bit but got what we needed.”
Carley finished the game with 21 points to lead all scorers. She also had three steals, tying a game-high total with teammates Konnor Sudmann and Breanna Allen. The Cliff had 17 steals as the team forced 28 Tiger turnovers.
Sudmann was next on the scoring chart with 13 points to go along with three assists. Madelyn Deitchler capped off the double-digit scorers for BC with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Briar Cliff outrebounded Doane 36-35. Sarah Dreckman just missed hitting double figures as she tied a career-high in points with nine. Haylee Heits and Sydney Roth led the Tigers with 13 points each.
The win improves Briar Cliff to 5-13 on the season and 2-8 in the GPAC. Doane is still looking for its first conference win as the Tigers are 1-15 overall and 0-11 in the GPAC. Briar Cliff travels to Jamestown, N.D. for a 6 p.m. contest on Wednesday against the Jimmies.
